health care reform

Posted in

Ontario Health Coalition holds ‘community-run referendum’ against privatization of health care – Kingston

People across Ontario are casting ballots in a “community-run referendum” that is weighing a heavy question on the privatization of health care. In March, the Ford government passed a bill that would allow more private clinics to offer some publicly funded surgeries to help reduce the surgery backlog that built up during the COVID-19 pandemic.To protest that move, the Ontario Health Coalition is turning to the public to ask their opinion on the issue. Volunteers are setting up all over Kingston, and across the province, speaking with the public about this issue and encouraging people to cast their vote. “The…
by Irma•
Posted in

Hospitals Need to Focus on Social Drivers of American Health

Apepperan health care is broken. And American health care systems must transform radically to lead the repair. Let’s first look at the data: The US now spends more than $4 trillion a year on health care. That’s nearly 20% of gross domestic product. Yet US life expectancy lags literally dozens of other nations—including Portugal, Slovenia, and Turkey—by as much as seven years. If trends continue, we will drop to 64th in the world in life expectancy by 2040, though we will continue to spend significantly more per capita than nearly any other nation. Diagnosing this failure is not difficult. Nearly…
by Irma•
Posted in

Alberta NDP raises concerns about lack of funding for rural health care

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted May 15, 2023 1:34 pm Updated May 15, 2023 7:45 pm Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta’s NDP says the only hospital in a town south of Calgary faces potential closures in its emergency department because the United Conservative Party has not supported it. David Shepherd, an NDP candidate in Edmonton who’s the Opposition health critic, held a news conference in front of the hospital in High River, Alta., a town of more than 14,000 people about 65 kilometers south of Calgary. He pointed to a recent letter to the local…
by Irma•
Posted in

Local nurses share stories, perspective for National Nurses Week

May 14—Linda Busch has a plaque on the wall of her home. It says, “if you save one life, you’re a hero. If you save 100 lives, you’re a nurse.” Last week, health care workers celebrated National Nurses Week in honor of the millions of often-unsung heroes of health care. In recognition of that work, the Tribune interviewed several active and retired nurses from the Quad Cities to talk about their experiences, perspectives and wisdom they’ve gleaned from their years of work. Linda Bush Linda Busch, a nurse and instructor at Lewis-Clark State College, started her career in 1981. At…
by Irma•
Posted in

Crisis in health care stems from work conditions, not a shortage of workers

It’s all about working conditions. At least that’s what Massachusetts nurses are saying about their colleagues’ decisions to leave bedside care positions in the state’s hospitals to find other work environments. Massachusetts Nurses Association President Katie Murphy voices her concerns about the growing crisis in health care; she was a moderator at a virtual hearing on several legislative measures that would increase compensation, limit patient loads and address workplace violence held virtually on Monday, May 8, 2023. “The nursing shortage is not real,” said Katie Murphy, who is assigned to the intensive care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in…
by Irma•
Posted in

Britain’s NHS has never seen industrial action on this scale

OnMay 2nd health-care trade unions in England finally signed off on a government pay deal. More than 1m workers in the National Health Service (NHS) will receive pay increases of 5% this year—with an additional one-off bonus added on for the previous year. But hopes for an end to the industrial action that has convulsed the health service in the past six months may be dashed. Two of the 14 unions to vote on the deal are still holding out for something better. The settlement does not include NHS doctors. Whatever happens, the strikes have caused over half a million…
by Irma•